For the Love of Books
by cosmictrap
Summary: Alternate Universe: Jess is a teacher. Nick is the writer with a writer's block after having publishing his first book, a YA novel that Jess is secretly a fan of. They have an unexpected meeting at a book signing event, and after that, a series of incidents make sure they keep ending up at the same place. Their meeting might just lay the foundation to Nick's new book. [Rated T atm]
1. The Balding Man with a Rotund Belly

**A/N: Somebody help, cuz I can't seem to stop. I have 0 self-control, it looks like.**

 ** _1\. The Balding Man with a Rotund Belly_**

Jessica Day was in a hurry of sorts, so it wasn't until she hurtled out of her cab and straight into the glass door of the bookstore that she realized that she'd forgotten her glasses. Feeling slightly hazy, she stumbled backwards, only to be steadied by a firm grip on her elbow. Muttering her thanks, she pulled at the door, grunting in annoyance when it didn't comply.

"You need to push it," said an amused voice behind her.

"I figured as much, thanks, Sherlock," she huffed, pushing the door open.

"It's Nick," came the voice again from behind her, and Jess just hurried into the store, calling out sarcastically, "Okay, then, thanks, _Nick_."

Ignoring the chuckle, she briskly walked towards where she knew the signing would be happening, opening her bag and praying that the spare pair of glasses that Cece insisted she carried around was in it. Her fingers found the plush glass case and she let out a sigh of relief as she pulled it out. Having slipped on her glasses in a few seconds, she blinked once and looked around.

The bookstore was not very crowded, but that wasn't very surprising. Not many people visited nowadays, and the few that did hardly stuck around for very long. Even today, despite the book signing event that was being held, there were hardly any people. The few that had come were all waiting in the queue that Jess had been hoping would be quite short, given she'd made it a point to get there early.

Jess joined the painfully long queue, wondering if she'd started five minutes earlier, she'd be a few places ahead. She pulled the book out of her bag, suddenly aware that the room was largely filled with teenagers and the only adults were the parents accompanying their children.

Listening to the few murmurs, she gathered that the writer had just arrived. She tapped her foot impatiently and craned her neck to see if she could spot the author, but she was far too behind in the line. She could see from afar that some people had already crowded around the table, once again ruing not having started earlier.

"What's the point of a queue if they can just do _that_ ," muttered Jess, raising herself on her toes.

She wondered what had made him agree to attend sign books out of the blue. If the rumours were to be believed, he had even agreed to interact with students across schools, and possibly even hold readings. It seemed like a rather odd development, given how he'd hardly given any interviews after his first book had been out, and the few which he did give were extremely vague and always in print. As she stood idly in the queue, she let her overactive imagination wonder for a bit.

Maybe he had something to hide. But what? Maybe he was a balding middle-aged man who didn't want to be photographed. Probably with a rotund belly. And insanely thick glasses and a cap, with a silver beard.

 _Oh, wait, that's George R. R. Martin._

Or maybe he was a family man who doesn't want anyone to know that he'd written a young adult novel. Maybe he was just a private person who wanted to keep his family safe, away from the public eye.

" _Nicholas Miller is probably not even his real name_ ," she mused.

As the group started to clear away from the table, the queue seemed to come to life as she moved five places ahead. Just as she was raising herself on her toes again, her phone rang quite loudly and she flinched at the shrill mooing that cut through the dim chatter at the bookstore. Wondering why she thought mooing cows would be a funny idea, she pulled the cellphone out of her bag hastily.

 _Cece._

"Hey, Cece!"

"Jess!" said Cece loudly. "Where are you! I thought we were leaving together?!"

 _Ah fudge, the brunch!_

"I'm so sorry, Cece! I-I got held up unexpectedly!"

 _There. That isn't a lie. The queue was too darned long!_

"Got held up?! _Where?_ "

 _Oh, just at the signing event of a young adult book I've been obsessing over for only a year or so. No big deal._

"Uhh, at a workshop that I'd signed up for," she blurted, keeping her voice low.

 _Definitely a lie._

"Workshop? What workshop? You never mentioned-"

"It's a, er, baking workshop for kids. Very, very, last minute, Cece. I'm just subbing for…uh, Tammy and-"

"Who the hell is _Tammy!_ "

Jess shook her head, regretting the decision to lie to Cece. The woman knew everything there was to know about her and she should've known better than to try that. But there was no backing down now.

As she moved two places ahead, she took a deep breath and said, "Oh god, Bryan! What did I tell you about too much butter! Your cake is on fire, now!"

 _That doesn't even make sense!_

"Jess, what-"

"Sorry, Ceec, I'll meet you directly at the cafe, okay? Fires and things to put out. Kids, am I right? Haha, _bye Cece!_

She hurriedly stuffed the phone back into her bag after putting it on silent and was met with the stares of some of the people in her immediate vicinity. She swallowed, realising that the lie had been completely unnecessary.

 _I should've just pretended like normal people that I couldn't hear her._

Feeling her cheeks warm a little, she clutched her bag to her side tightly as she saw the person in front of her walk away and she moved ahead, suddenly finding herself in front of the table. Startled, she looked up and saw that the author was no middle-aged, balding man with a rotund beer belly and thick glasses.

He was wearing a plain navy blue blazer, one size too big for him. It was unbuttoned and she could tell that he was wearing blue and white flannel underneath. He had unkempt brown hair, which was sticking out at odd angles in some places and there was a shadow of stubble on his cheeks, accentuating his jawline. His eyes were a dark brown, full of mirth, and presently, he was smirking up at her with amusement.

She gaped at him for a few seconds, before attempting to blink away her surprise. She cleared her throat and managed to say, "Hi!"

"I see you've found your glasses," he said, gesturing towards her with his pen.

Jess frowned in confusion for a moment before realization crossed her face. "Sherlock!"

" _Nick_ ," he corrected her again, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"Right," she said, wide-eyed obviously a little embarrassed at the memory of their previous encounter, as she gave him the book.

He took the book from her with a chuckle, tilting his head at her. "Aren't you a little too old to be reading this?"

She felt her embarrassment fly out the window, as annoyance at his question quickly replaced it. Not that he was wrong, of course, she really was too old to be reading this, but that look of superiority on his face made her want to hit him. "It's for my students. They're huge fans," she said indignantly.

Nick quirked a brow at her. "Just _one_ copy?"

Narrowing her eyes at him, Jess spluttered. "I-It's for the _library_. A library copy. So that _all_ of my students, who are huge, huge fans, will have access to it."

"Right," he chuckled, bowing his head to sign the book.

He signed the book and slid it across the table towards her, with a small smile. She grabbed the book and started to tuck into her bag as she was walking away, when Nick called out, "Convey my condolences to Bryan for setting his cake on fire!"

Flushing red, she threw a last annoyed glance at him before hastily stepping out of the store. Truth be told, that had not at all gone the way she had expected. Not even remotely.

As she hailed a cab to the cafe she was supposed to meet Cece at, she wondered if she had been rude to him. She'd only glared a little at him and huffed just a bit, so that wouldn't qualify as rude, would it? She worried her lip nervously, hoping that was not the case. She didn't even know what had driven her to lie to him because her initial plan had been to discuss the intricacies of the book with him.

In her mind, she had envisioned approaching a George R. R. Martin lookalike and discuss with him the complexity of his character, Julius Pepperwood; she'd even made a mental note to let him know that Pepperwood deserved some happiness after what Coraline had done to him.

Instead, she was hit by the unexpectedness of the sight Nick Miller had been. She could reluctantly admit in the safe confines of her mind, that he was quite attractive. She knew that had thrown her off her game a little. It's bound to happen to anyone who was expecting a pudgy, balding man but had instead been blindsided by a suit-wearing (handsome) "monstrosity", she reasoned.

It still didn't entirely answer why she'd chosen to lie to him, and ultimately decided that it was because of the smug tone he'd questioned her with.

 **A/N: This fic will largely have romcom vibes.**


	2. Polka Dots & Fake GRRM

_**2\. Polka Dots and Fake GRRM**_

* * *

As Nick walked down the block, he removed the slightly oversized blazer and scrunched his nose at how much it still smelled like Schmidt's cologne. The book-signing event had been painfully long, exhausting and pretty much boring. For the most part at least, mused Nick, as he remembered the pretty, spectacled woman in the red polka dots dress. He chuckled to himself at the memory and headed in the direction of his new "home", luckily just around the block from the bookstore.

The last few months had been a whirlwind and all he wanted to do was relax. But ever since the book had been published, he had had no time to breathe and the only plus point to this was that he was making money. Not as much as him and his publisher had expected, but still, it was something.

Probably the only good thing that came out of Caroline leaving, he thought darkly.

As he entered the apartment building and waited for the elevator, he found himself thinking of Caroline again, and was quite pleased with how it didn't hurt anymore. He could call her a 'bitch' in his mind without flinching. He felt nothing for her now.

The only downside of that was that he didn't know what to write about next. He'd gotten around to completing Pepperwood only after Caroline had left him, and now that he was actually getting over her, he was at a loss for words. Very literally. His publisher was already pressing him to write a sequel, and he had no idea where to draw inspiration from. He hadn't even thought his book would be published, let alone having to write a sequel to it.

Ready to collapse onto his bed, he opened the door to the loft and was not surprised to see Schmidt waiting for him restlessly on the couch.

"So, how did it go? Did a lot of people show up? Are you like, a celebrity now? I wanted to come, I really did, but we signed a new contract and-"

"Eh, you didn't miss much," Nick sighed and handed the blazer over to Schmidt. "It went okay. And no, I'm not a celebrity, Schmidt. The book's not exactly a bestseller. Only teenagers read it. Young adult," he said grimacing, then as an afterthought added, "For the most part at least."

"Nicholas, stop being such a buzzkill," said Schmidt rolling his eyes. "You got a zombie book published, man. That's been your dream since before law college. That's a big deal."

"Well, you're not wrong," admitted Nick. "It's just that I thought the book would sell a lot more. I got overconfident and quit law school, and now I'm wishing I hadn't."

"Oh, please, law school sucked the life out of you," said Schmidt, shaking his head. "As did Caroline," he said in one breath. "You're better off without both of them."

"But the money-"

"Money, schmoney," scoffed Schmidt. "I'm sure there's plenty knocking at your door. So many schools want you to interact with their students, and-"

"Two," interrupted Nick.

"Well, fine, _two_. But Nick, that's how it starts! Speak at one place, the teachers talk and before you know it, there'll be more schools reaching out to you!"

"I don't want to make a living by talking to students!" said Nick, frowning.

Schmidt rolled his eyes. "Nicholas, just start with two. And the latest one that reached out to you? Callidge? Collidge?"

"I don't remember…" said Nick, shaking his head.

"Well, that school has a lot of students. So, talking to-"

"Why'd you look it up?" asked Nick curiously.

"Well, Nicholas, I'm the marketing expert here so I had to do some research and see which options were the best for you to take up. Obviously. If you decide to of course. But if you do manage to talk to them, they'll talk about you and the book. And well, through word-of-mouth, you might just sell more copies. And word-of-mouth is a stra-"

"I know what it means Schmidt," grimaced Nick.

"Oh, good. See? There's plenty of options, man. I mean, if nothing pans out, you could ask Winston to get you a spot on the Latvian basketball team."

Nick shook his head amusedly and Schmidt laughed. "Anyway, set all the worrying aside, mah bro…"

"Ugh, Schmidt what did I tell you about that!"

"... because tonight, we celebrate," finished Schmidt, ignoring Nick's comment.

Nick frowned. "What are you-"

"The new contract I was telling you about? It's a huge deal. It's with a modelling agency and they're throwing a party to celebrate…. I'm not sure, what exactly, because I stopped listening after I heard the models would be there too and-" said Schmidt, smiling dreamily.

"Typical," smirked Nick.

"-And you, Mr. Writer, should come with me," continued Schmidt, ignoring him. "It'll be great. A room full of models, ours for the taking…"

"Schmidt, I'm not really in the mood," sighed Nick.

"It's an open bar," said Schmidt triumphantly; his trump card.

"Fine," said Nick grudgingly. "Why don't you ever lead with that?"

"Because Nicholas, I forget that you're an abnormal man who prefers booze over hot women," said Schmidt, jumping off the couch and heading to his room. "We leave at eight."

…

Nick sat at the bar of whatever huge place they were at. His mind was still wandering towards the issue of money; he felt guilty free-riding Schmidt, and though he knew Schmidt genuinely didn't mind, it just wasn't fair.

Schmidt was right about the schools too. His social media ( _Facechat? Instachat?_ ) profile, which his editor had insisted on creating for "promotional purposes", had received quite a lot of requests to sign books at some small bookstore and to address young students - largely middle schoolers and high school freshmen. He didn't really mind the former, but it had turned out to be so much more boring than he'd thought. But he didn't particularly want to talk to kids either - Were middle schoolers considered kids? Or were they preteens? He wasn't too sure. Then again, it was a matter of money; how hard could it really be?

Thinking so much about these things gave him a headache, and to distract himself, he turned to genuinely try and absorb his surroundings. Frankly, he could see nothing he liked. The loud music was creating weird reverberations in his head and giving him a headache. The crazy neon lights were hurting his eyes and he decided that the torture had definitely not been worth the open bar.

He half-heartedly scanned the crowd, wondering if anyone would catch his eye, but they all seemed to look the same to him. He chuckled when his gaze fell on Schmidt who was flirting undeterred with a model who was clearly disinterested. Shaking his head, he downed a glass of whiskey and decided that he should probably just head home. He turned around and was just wondering where the sudden scent of vanilla was coming from, when he bumped into a woman, knocking the contents of the glass she was holding onto her dress.

"Ah, dang it!" she exclaimed, looking down at the steadily spreading stain on her dark grey dress, leaving pink stains on the silver work.

"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry," he apologized quickly and turned towards the bar to grab some tissues of the counter.

She looked up at him at the same time as he turned back to her with the tissues, and before he could stop himself, he exclaimed, "Polka Dots!"

"Fake GRRM!" she said, blinking in surprise before gaping at him, hand half-way stretched towards the tissues he was holding out for her.

"What?" asked Nick, face scrunching into confusion at her nickname for her him. At least his made sense - she was wearing polka dots when he'd seen her. "Why am I " _Fake_ GRRM"!?" he asked indignantly.

She snatched the tissues from him and narrowed her eyes. "Well, are you the real GRRM?"

"Obviously not!" he said, still confused.

"Well, then I don't see why you wouldn't be the Fake GRRM!" she shrugged and proceeded to dab at the stains on her dress with seeming nonchalance.

She could hear how stupid her logic sounded. She really did. But that seemed a lot better than telling him that she'd thought he'd look like a middle-aged, balding kind of man but had turned out to be the rugged, hot kind. And that's what she referred to him as in her head though she knew his real name. Besides, why was he here anyway?

"That makes no sense," he said pointedly.

"Oh boy, don't I know it," she muttered, still trying to clean the dress and rubbing at it vigorously.

"Um, if that's wine, what you're doing is a bad idea," he told her.

"It's rosé," she mumbled. "And this is one of my favourite dresses."

"Well, if you want to save your dress, you might want to find a bucket of warm water..." said Nick, wishing he had just ordered another glass of whiskey.

"Where could I possibly find that here?" she said, gesturing in a general direction.

"...and some detergent and salt," he finished, while she gaped at him defiantly.

"I suppose you know where I could find those?"

Nick shrugged at her. "I wish I could help."

"Eh, it's fine. I'm used to mishaps like this," she said, looking remorsefully at the stain. "I work with kids," she explained.

"Like Bryan?" he asked, cocking his head smugly.

She frowned. "Who's Bryan?"

"The guy who set his cake on fire," said Nick, starting to laugh.

Her eyes widened and she turned red. "Well, he-he's a child. It was no big deal."

"Come on, we both know there was no Bryan," he teases. "Just admit you like my book!"

"My students like the book," she said, telling herself that his smug tone was what was ticking her off. She honestly wasn't embarrassed that she liked a young adult's book; the only reason she'd lied to Cece was because she couldn't be bothered to handle the relentless teasing she was sure to throw her way.

Besides, why lie to the goddamn author himself? If there was one thing she'd always wanted, it was to discuss a book with the author. But here she was, standing in an annoyingly loud party, telling an author that she wasn't a fan of his book.

 _What is wrong with me._

He said something in response to her lie but was drowned out by the volume. She strains her neck slightly, with a questioning look on her face, mouthing the words 'I can't hear you'.

"Lying isn't one of your strongest suits!" he repeated loudly, leaning closer to her, his cheek just grazing hers.

She turned to look at him angrily, but he was standing so close to her. Their noses were almost touching, and she swallowed thickly as he stared back at her. She couldn't help but notice that his eyes were a very peculiar, but rich shade of brown with speckles of dull gold near the irises. A small voice in the back of her head laughed mockingly at her, calling her a 'hopeless romantic' and she took a step back, clearing her throat.

"You're so annoying," she muttered lamely and stomped off as he stared after her, mentally making a note that the smell of vanilla was fading away. As he tried to make his way through the crowd towards the exit, he couldn't help but smile to himself a little.

* * *

 **A/N: Ugh, s** **orry, I know it's going slowly. I need it too.**

 **There's a hint as to where they'll meet next. Any guesses? ;) ;)**

 **And don't forget to leave reviewssss! :***


	3. Simple Biology & Coolidge M School - P1

_**3\. Simple Biology and Coolidge Middle School - Part 1**_

* * *

Jess reached the school an hour earlier than usual, bubbling with curious excitement. Dr. Foster had told her to come to school early because he had finally gotten her what she'd been begging for a long time. It was difficult to pinpoint what it could be because she'd been begging him for a lot of things for quite a long time and all he'd ever say was "Soon, Ms. Day. Very soon." His definition of "soon" was obviously very skewed.

But he had actually sounded quite excited while talking to her last evening and had refused to give away what it was because he wanted to see her reaction. True, Dr. Foster always had a quiver of excitement in his voice no matter what it was that he talked about, but secrets had never been his strongest suit. So maybe it was actually something quite unprecedented that he'd planned. Her mind was jumping all over the place, trying to think about what it was that would give her immense happiness.

 _Maybe it's a new stationery set… Or he'd finally gotten a new pin-up board for her class…. Or even better, maybe she could finally take the class to the beach for a field trip!_

She walked through the quiet corridor, marvelling at how silent it sounded. The usual chatter of children was absent and for the first time she had joined, she hadn't had to take someone to the nurse within the first ten minutes of stepping into the school building. She walked towards Foster's office, pausing for a second to have a sip at the water fountain; the fountain was hardly ever free, and hardly ever clean enough to use.

 _Ha, what do you know, the school is almost a sanctuary of peace in the morning._

As the frosted glass door of Dr. Foster's came into view, she found her curiosity bubbling up again. Filled with anticipatory excitement, she knocked on the door twice, as per custom, before entering the office.

"Ms. Day!" he exclaimed delightedly from behind his desk, gesturing for her to take a seat. Grinning ear to ear, she sat down and looked at him questioningly.

"So Ms. Day," he said, smiling knowingly at her. "I know you've wanted this for a while and-"

"Is my class getting a new pin-up board?" she blurted excitedly, unable to help herself.

Foster laughed with surprise. "Something better!"

" _Oh my god, can I finally take the kids to the beach!?"_

"No, Ms. Day, I'm afraid that's going to take a while to process. And-"

Jess was about to retort that she supposed nearly a year was long enough a while, but Foster's sentence was interrupted and her words never made it to see the light of day as someone knocked on the door frantically.

The frown dropped off his face, Foster started to smile again, looking expectantly at Jess as he said, "Come on in!"

The door clicked open, followed by a familiar voice apologizing, making Jess freeze in her seat. "I am so sorry I'm late! I got stuck in - Polka Dots!"

Jess was on her feet, eyes wide as she saw Nick walk in, dressed in the same suit she had seen him wear at the book reading but paired with jeans this time. He had stopped in his tracks as well, his eyes meeting hers. He was frozen in the doorway, eyebrows raised as he took in the sight of her in a blue dress that brought out the colour of her eyes. Their shocked stare-off was broken by the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, and Jess turned around to see that Foster had stood up.

"Mr. Miller, I presume?" he asked, smiling warmly at Nick.

Nick shook his head, clearly taken aback by the unexpected sight of her. "Yes. Yes, Mr. Foster. That would be me. Nick Miller."

"Wonderful," he smiled, gesturing at him to take a seat, looking at Jess excitedly. "See? I told you it'd be a great surprise!"

"It sure is Dr. Foster," said Jess, chuckling lightly, still not having taken her eyes off Nick. "Believe me, I've never been more surprised in my life."

Nick walked slowly over to the chairs in front of Foster's desk, and Jess sat back down as well, grateful that Foster has always been an oblivious sort of person. The man was intelligent, but was dense in equal parts, always terrible at gauging moods in the room. As Foster continued to look quite pleased with himself, she wasn't quite sure how she could explain to him that the two of them had gotten off on the wrong foot.

"So, Mr. Miller," said Foster. "You were saying earlier about getting stuck in er, polka dots? I don't quite follow."

Jess felt her cheeks turn red with embarrassment as she looked down at her lap, twiddling her thumbs nervously. As she heard Nick mumble something about actually being stuck in traffic, she was glad he didn't explain the Polka Dots; that would probably end up being Foster's new nickname for her and the school would've caught on. While Foster vehemently agreed to Nick's complaints about the traffic, she had a vision of the entire school calling her "Polka Dots" and shuddered.

 _"I don't_ always _wear polka dots,"_ she thought indignantly. " _I'm not wearing any right now. Except for my underwear. But that doesn't count. And-"_

"Anyway," said Foster, bringing Jess's attention back from wherever her mind was taking her. "Mr. Miller, this is Ms. Jessica Day…"

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Miller," she said, giving him a smile and hoping she didn't look like she was choking on something because she sure felt like it. She couldn't quite put a finger on why her nerves were acting up. This was definitely not a big deal, and she decided that she _had_ to act like it.

This was merely an instance of having one of her students' ( _and hers_ ) favourite author at school and have him meet them. They had always wanted to do meet him ( _as had she_ ), so this would be a good day and she wouldn't ruin it for them. She pictured their smiling faces and all the questions they would probably ask in excitement.

"Ms. Day," he nodded at her, and the slowly forming smug smirk on his face made her wish the children asked him uncomfortable questions.

She chastised herself immediately at the thought because she started feeling like she was being nasty. Nastiness wasn't even in her directory of feelings. But _why_ did he have to be so smug all the time?! It drove her nuts that he found something seemingly funny and she was simply getting agitating by the minute. She felt like a different person altogether and this just wasn't like her.

But this man. God, _this man_ evoked such intense feelings in her.

Intense feelings of anger, of course.

"Her class is a huge fan of your work, Mr. Miller," said Foster, and Jess gave him the side-eye of triumph, grateful at Foster's unintentional collusion to her previous lies. "Thank you for coming to talk to them. In fact, if this goes well, maybe you could come again and talk to more than just one class!"

Nick looked visibly nervous. Loosening his collar slightly, he said, "Um, sure, I guess. But I've never really spoken to kids before and-"

"Don't you worry about that, Mr. Miller!" said Foster, pointing at Jess. "That's why Ms. Day will be with you throughout. She's great with kids and besides, it's her class so I'm sure she can handle them for you."

 _Oh, great_.

Jess wasn't quite looking forward to this because she'd in all likelihood have to be polite and nice to him in front of the students. A part of her was making a disapproving face at her, because really what had Nick done to deserve the hostility she was feeling towards him?

Her (ir)rational mind was telling her that he had been rude to her when they had first met (but was he really?). And then, he had ruined her dress (but was it _really_ his fault?). And well, he was really good looking (and frankly, that wasn't his fault either, was it?).

She found herself frowning at the thought and how shallow it sounded. That just wasn't her style! She couldn't figure out why it was that her mind was going in this direction because she knew (from experience) that she was behaving like a middle schooler. Any normal, _adult_ person would probably just ask for his number or ask him out for a cup of coffee.

 _Not that I want his number. And I don't even like coffee!_

She shook her head mentally at herself. Her mind wasn't making sense at all. It was almost like it was being controlled by her "nether region". It was all out of sorts because she hadn't really acted on her twirliness in a _long_ time. Maybe that was it. Maybe the seemingly eternal singledom was making her brain think these things. It was simple biology!

 _I just need my Vitamin D._

 _Oh, god. Get it together, Jessica!_

"Ms. Day?"

Startled, Jess blinked a few times before her gaze focused back on Foster who was staring at her with an amused smile. "Did you space out again while I was speaking, Ms. Day?" he asked knowingly.

Jess smiled sheepishly, shooting a side glance towards Nick, who was watching her with raised brows and an amused smile to match Foster's on his face.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Foster. What were you saying?"

"I was just asking you how you wanted to introduce Mr. Miller to your class. Just have him walk in abruptly and have him surprise them? Or introduce him first and _then_ have him walk in? Or maybe-"

"Yes," said Jess quickly, cutting him off. "I think introducing him first would be a better idea. Otherwise it'd be like, you know, a strange man walking into class," she said chuckling nervously, and hurried to clarify as she took in Foster's and Nick's bemused faces. "I-I mean they wouldn't recognise him because there aren't many pictures of him, so because it's the first time, better to er, you know start with the introductions."

Foster nodded and looked at his watch. "Well, you both have half an hour until the kids start to come in. Ms. Day, why don't you show him around the school in the meantime?"

"Of course," she said, standing up and looked at Nick who followed suit.

As Nick thanked Foster, Jess started to walk towards the door, clueless as to how the next half an hour was going to go. Just as her hand was on the doorknob, Nick caught up with her and his hand reached for the doorknob at the same time. She looked at him with raised eyebrows, but merely shrugging, he pulled at the door, his hand enclosing over hers on the doorknob.

Once the door opened, neither of them budged, staring at each other challengingly. "Ladies first," he said.

"Mr. Miller," she said, removing her hand from underneath his and crossing her arms tightly against her chest. "Since you're our guest, please, _you_ first," she finished, gesturing towards the empty corridor.

Nick frowned. "I don't see why this-"

"Is there a problem, Ms. Day?" came Foster's concerned voice.

"No, Dr. Foster," said Jess quickly. "We er, couldn't decide if we should head to the library first or the er, pool."

"I think I'd like to visit the library very much, Ms. Day," said Nick.

"Well, that's decided then," said Jess, putting on a bright smile. "To the library it is."

"Great!" said Nick, and started to smirk. "Lead the way, Ms. Day."

Jess started to say something, but instead throwing a furtive glance at Dr. Foster, stepped out of the office feeling slightly disgruntled. Once again, she felt disapproval directed towards herself.

 _What was the entire door-scene about!?_

She simply couldn't understand why everything about him was setting her off, especially when he was being so nice! Maybe it was that smirk of his. Under normal circumstances, she would've literally melted if someone held the door for her.

 _'Normal' circumstances? What is so abnormal about this circumstance!?_

 _Nothing. NOTHING._

She jumped when she felt Nick tap her shoulder, turning around with a small squeak.

"Goodness, you scared me!" she said, shaking her head.

"Ms. Day, we were literally just-" he started, but she interrupted him.

"I know, I know. I just…"

"Spaced out? You seem to do that a lot," he said, chuckling lightly.

"Yes, well, what can I say? I love space. Space is my favourite… space, ha," she said, laughing at her own joke.

"Right," said Nick, watching her with amusement. "So, er, to the library?"

As if just realizing he was there too, she looked at him sheepishly and nodded, cheeks flushing slightly. "Right. To the library."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry, I know the plot isn't going fast and that I'm exploring too much of their psyche. It's necessary for the buildup :')**

 **Also, if any of you notice any grammatical/spelling errors, please do tell. I'm usually writing at night so my brain is too glazed over to notice, lol.**

 **UGH I hate that FF restricts number of characters in chapter titles.**


	4. Simple Biology & Coolidge M School - P2

_**4\. Simple Biology and Coolidge Middle School - Part 2**_

* * *

When Nick and Jess walked through the double doors of the library, they were greeted by the librarian, a middle-aged woman with a her hair tied into a neat bun on top of her head, not a single strand out of place. Seated at an ornate desk immediately to the left of the entrance, she looked up from her computer with an amused smile.

"Jessica! Another early day at the library?" she laughed, looking over glasses

"Good morning, Sally," smiled Jess, halting in front of Sally's desk, Nick right behind her. "Just showing our guest here, around."

Just noticing Nick behind Jess, Sally stood up and extended her hand to him with a smile. "Starting with the library? Always a good choice," chuckled Sally.

The library, though not spectacularly big, was the oldest part of the Coolidge Middle School, and somewhat of a pride to the teachers because it was better stocked and even better looking than the Coolidge High School, which was just down the block. With sunlight filtering in through the windows and the smell of old wood mixed with a hint yellowing paper, it felt almost exactly like the kind you would describe in fiction. Except the windows were the regular kind with dull metal frames and not the lattice windows arching to the ceiling. In front of the double doors was a carpet and to the right, across from where Sally sat, were shelves of books, the spines all facing Sally. Opposite the doors, separated by an aisle, were two columns of bookshelves probably extending to the end of the library, the spines facing the double doors.

"Mr. Miller, this is Sally Ulridge, one of my closest colleagues here," said Jess as the two shook hands. "And Sally, this is Nick Miller."

Sally's eyes widened and looked at Nick with awe. "Pepperwood Chronicles?"

Nick shuffled his feet awkwardly, muttering a small, "Yes," with a sheepish smile, crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

"It's great to have you here!" Sally exclaimed. "Mr. Miller, you must definitely sign a copy or two for us that we could keep in the library!"

"Oh, Ms. Day, didn't I sign a library copy for you when you'd come for the signing?" he asked playfully, looking at Jess sideways.

She simply opened her mouth to a retort but a delighted Sally beat her to it.

"Jess? You did? That's great! Why didn't you tell me! The kids will love that!"

"Must've slipped my mind, Sally," said Jess reluctantly. "I'll get it tomorrow."

And then, as Sally started gushing over Pepperwood Chronicles, Nick grew increasingly uncomfortable. Jess realized that this was probably the first time she'd seen him without a smirk on his face, and it was bizarre how cute she thought his embarrassment was. _Modesty_ , might've been the right word; she found his modesty really, _really_ cute. She watched with amusement for a little while before finally deciding to rescue the poor guy.

"Sally, the kids will be here soon, so I best just show him around first," said Jess, chuckling at her, almost unconsciously wrapping a hand around the crook of Nick's elbow and tugging gently.

She misses the way he broke out of his embarrassment as his eyes shot to her grip on his hand and the mildly flustered look on his face, as she bid a sheepish Sally goodbye.

They walked to the shelves on the door's right, and then they turned around the corner of a bookcase. She let go of his hand and Nick started to feel stupid when he found himself wishing she hadn't.

She turned to him and smiling a little, said, "Say hello to our library!"

"Hard to believe that this is a middle school library," mused Nick.

"It's great, isn't it!" chuckled Jess. "This building was originally the high school. Over the years, Coolidge decided that middle schoolers deserved a bigger and more spacious building, so the middle school and the high school swapped buildings. He wasn't wrong obviously, middle school kids are so sweet and high school kids are all addled up with hormones and just plain mean."

She paused for thought while Nick watched her with mild amusement and continued, "I mean, some of the middle schoolers are hormonal as well, but most of them are just confused at this point. It's quite cute, actually."

Turned out that the key to unlocking Jessica Day's wariness was to mention the school and the kids. Just asking anything about it in fact, would have her bubbly self surface. As she walked the two of them down different aisles, she gushed about the school and about her job.

Nick couldn't help but be fascinated by how much she loved her job because he had not really come across any adult who spoke about their jobs that way; except maybe Schmidt, but Nick was sure that the only reason Schmidt loved his job as much as he claimed to was his company's contracts with multiple modelling agencies.

As they passed the seating area of the library towards the shelves on the backend, they had started to talk about their interest in books. And with that, the conversation flowed like a river almost like the last barrier had broken down.

Books really were great conversation starters because soon they were debating over classics…

 _"I never liked Shakespeare…"_

 _"What! But Mr. Miller, he's THE classic writer and-"_

 _"Honestly, I will never understand anyone who refers to someone as an 'egg'. No matter what century, how is that even an insult!?"_

…favourite authors…

 _"William Golding, hands down."_

 _"But… he had children_ eat _other children! Can you imagine the sort of mind he had to even inspire something like that?"_

 _"I can, Ms. Day. And honestly? I wish I could think like him."_

…and whether or not Harry Potter was a modern classic…

 _"Of course, it's a classic! The books have layered and complex characters and so many themes are explored that people from any time period can relate to! War, love, family, friendship!"_

 _"I admire the creativity of it, no doubt. But is it a classic? I don't think so. It's just a boy trying to defeat the ultimate evil guy, who honestly wasted a lot of time trying to be immortal. I mean, why WHY would anyone want to be immortal?! This world isn't super awesome or anything, is it? People are just selfish and-"_

 _"Wow, you see the worst in people don't you?"_

 _"Yeah, because people are the worst!"_

It would've been interesting, the tone conversation would've taken had they ended up conversing about young adult literature at some point (and obviously be forced to address Jess's allegedly non-existent love for the _Pepperwood Chronicles_ ). But their conversation was interrupted by the (un)timely sighting of someone.

"Oh, shit," Jess muttered under her breath and stopped in her tracks to duck into one of the aisles.

Nick stood in the spot for a second, confusion clearly etched on his face. He followed her quickly though and was standing next to Jess. She was bending slightly, peering over the top of the books in the shelf, staring with utmost concentration towards the seating area.

Nick crouched slightly too, frowning in the same direction. "Um, Ms. Day? What are we looking at and who are we hiding from?"

"That's Ryan," Jess hissed, nodding her head towards a lean man who was now sitting in a seat under the window. Sunlight was trickling on to him, filtering through a spread of leaves from a low hanging branch outside.

"He's sitting in _my_ spot!" she fumed. "The nerve of that man!"

Nick raised his eyebrows at her questioningly.

"That's my seat. It's really pretty and has a view of the pool and there's almost always a cool breeze filtering through it," she said, and chuckled sheepishly before continuing. "I'm not usually that, um-"

"Anal?"

"Mr. Miller!" she gasped, swatting his shoulder.

"What?" he asked indignantly, mentally making a note that she probably wasn't one for cussing or 'bad words'.

"I was going for "particular" but I _suppose that_ works," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Anyway, I'm not that particular, but _he_ is my ex and _how dare he sit there._ "

"Ms. Day, it's just a seat-"

"It's _my_ seat _,"_ she hissed. "And now we'll have to walk past him and _talk to_ him and-"

"We could take a detour if you like," said Nick carefully.

"No," she said quickly. "I cannot, _will not_ , let a man control my actions. I refuse to be pathetic. This is the _new_ Jessica Day. The _old_ Jessica Day died after Spencer-"

"Who is _Spencer_!?"

"He was- Oh, never mind, lets just go," she said, and once again, unconsciously, took Nick's hand, wrapping her fingers around his wrist. Once again, missing his flustered look as she did so, she pulled him along with her, as she focused her gaze on the other end of the library and marched straight towards it. As Jess walked past Ryan, Nick threw a glance at him, now merely a few feet away from them.

 _Eh, he's okay._

Jess's clicking heels drew his attention and Nick yelped when he felt her grip grow tighter as Ryan called out her name, jumping to his feet.

"Jessica!"

 _A British guy, huh._

To his surprise, Jess didn't stop. She only quickened her pace, tugging harder at Nick's hand as she paid no heed to Ryan at all and nearly broke into a run when he started following them. Nearly.

Minutes later, they were standing outside the library. Ryan, probably having taken the hint that Jess was in no mood to talk to him, hadn't followed. Jess let go of his hand and Nick immediately started to rub the slowly reddening skin. Jess's eyes fell on that and she gasped. "Oh god, did _I_ do that?!"

"I think so, yeah," nodded Nick, tone almost sceptical.

"I'm so sorry," she said apologetically, starting to reach out to his hand, but he backed away slightly.

"It's okay, it's okay," he said warily. "I've had worse."

"I'm really sorry about that," she said, dropping her hand and smiling at him sheepishly. "I realized that New Jessica Day wanted to throw some piping hot tea at him," she said, saying 'hot tea' in what Nick assumed was supposed to be a British accent.

Then, she frowned and looked down at the floor.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm not a very violent person, I swear," she said, and she sounded very, very sincere. Almost childlike in her pleading as she looked at him again.

"Hey, that's alright. Really. I-"

"It's just that the thought of standing there, listening to his pathetic excuse for not showing up to my-"

She paused mid-sentence and took a deep breath, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Oops, I'm rambling. To a stranger…"

"That's okay. We've been-"

"…Well, not a _complete_ stranger but semi-stranger. I mean I do know your name, and… _Annnnd_ I'm doing it again," she sighed.

"Ms. Day," said Nick softly, laying a careful hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Really. I understand."

The smallest of twinkle she could see in his eyes suggested that he'd noticed the way she had tensed just slightly and how her eyes had moved to where his hand was resting her shoulder before she'd looked at him. She wondered if she was imagining it.

Unsure of what to say, she simply nodded and Nick grinned at her. He started to say something else when Jess noticed that students had started trickling in.

"Oh! The kids are here!" she said excitedly. "Wow, they're going to be so happy to see you!" she exclaimed, her face splitting into a grin.

Then, beckoning for him to follow her, she started walking briskly down the corridor, while Nick followed suit. He couldn't help but marvel at how quickly she went from having a mini-meltdown to being a bubble of sunshine, excited about children meeting him.

As he tried to keep up with her, something told him that Jessica Day was probably unlike any woman he'd ever met.

* * *

 **A/N: Jeez that's a lot of dialogue isn't it?** **Ugh, I'm terrible at dialogues smh. Pls 2 bear with me hahaha. I'll do better, kind of. Hopefully. With the emotions and stuff; that'll come soon.**

 **Also, I hope the library doesn't sound like a weird place, lol. I've based this on the library of the school I'd studied in.**

 **Also um, I know Nick's a little OOC and that it's not canon that he reads much, but I always thought it was weird that a writer _doesn't_ read. Maybe it's a bias, idk. Just an opinion.**

 **Either ways, I hope you like it despite the slow pace, oops. :)**


	5. Simple Biology & Coolidge M School - P3

**A/N: WOW that took a while, didn't it. Sorry about that. Let me know how you like it (or hate it, hahah)**

* * *

 _ **5\. Simple Biology and Coolidge Middle School - Part 3**_

* * *

By the time Jess and Nick got to her class, quite a few students had already arrived. All the students gave an excited cheer when Jess walked into the class, screaming 'Good morning, Ms Day' in a sing song voice, each in a different, offbeat tune, an idea born from the Harry Potter books. But the second Nick walked in, the class fell completely silent, everyone having frozen where they were as they stared at Nick.

Jess chuckled at Nick's obvious discomfort at the scrutiny that he was getting no subtly. Before she could say something, a girl sitting in the front row, right in front of Jess, raised her hand, her eyes wide as she stared at Nick.

Jess knew that look - teeth clamping down on her lower lip, jumping in her seat and even swinging a little bit. Rhea would explode any second now if not allowed to speak right away.

"Yes, Rhea?" said Jess, smiling a little.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Rhea stood up and looked at Jess after throwing a seemingly suspicious glance at Nick.

"Ms Day, is this your new boyfriend?"

The entire class chortled and Ooooh'd at her, and Jess had to roll her eyes because honestly, why hadn't she seen this coming. The children were surprisingly curious and even borderline obsessed with her love life. Everytime someone the kids were unfamiliar was brought to class by her, she would be asked if they were her boyfriend. (Girlfriend, when she first introduced them to Cece).

"No, Rhea, he is not," she said turning to look at Nick pointedly so he could back her up, but he was merely looking on with amusement.

"Right, Nick?" she pressed.

"No, ma'am," he agreed.

"Everyone, this is Nicholas Miller. And yes, before you ask, he _is_ the author of The Pepperwood Chronicles," she added and the hands that had shot up when she'd mentioned his name, dropped. Except one.

"Matt?"

"Ms. Day, didn't you say that the author would be a balding man with silver hair and a r-rotten?-"

"It's _rotund_ , Matthew," said a Brianna, another student, shaking her head at Matt.

"Right, _rotund,_ " repeated Matt, nodding nervously and Jess realized where this was going and also realized that it was too late to stop her student. "You'd said that he'd be a balding man with a rotund belly, Ms. Day."

"Matt," sighed Jess. "I hadn't said that that's how he looked. I _thought_ that's what he looked like, remember? You had asked me what I thought he looked like during the reading last month?"

"That explains your 'Fake GRRM' comment," Nick muttered under his breath, and Jess just looked at him sheepishly with a small shrug.

As the class broke into a debate over Nick's Real Look™ versus Grade 7's Nicholas Miller Look™, Nick turned to Jess and said, "I can't believe you thought that I was an old, grandpa-type guy! What made you think that?"

"I-I don't know, okay, just something about the way you write gave me old-man vibes!"

"Old man vibes?" asked Nick scrunching his nose, looking mildly hurt.

"Hey, it's not a bad thing!" she said quickly. "I… I mean old men can be, er, great too. And um…"

"You have a thing for older men!?" asked Nick, making a face that reminded her so much of the turtle from the video Cece had sent to her last night.

"Only for Walter Matthau types. From _Grumpy Old Man_."

Nick began to cackle. "That is such a weird kink."

Jess gasped and looked around at the class before glaring at him. "You can't say words like that in class!"

He just laughed at her while she huffed at him irritated, muttering that she didn't have time for this as she turned to get her class's attention. In a matter of seconds, she had them settled down and was explaining to them that she had gotten Nick to come talk to them about his book; that maybe all the questions they had been pestering her with for some time now, could finally be directed towards him

"And nobody be mean," she finished, looking pointedly at a small blonde girl with glasses sitting next to Rhea. "Okay, who wants to go first?"

"Millie?"

"What inspired Pepperwood, Mr. Miller?"

Nick chuckled as he thought back to the day - lying drunk in his dorm bed, trying to reach Caroline, and then waking up to a voice message from her asking him never to contact her again. The amount of irritation and anger that had filled him at that moment, powered by the slowly dulling heartache, had made him jump out of bed and start typing aggressively. He'd always wanted to write about zombies, Pepperwood was but a hazy idea at the back of his mind, but turned out Caroline was the fuel he needed to make it all clearer.

 _Good times._

"Uh, well, I had always known I wanted to write about zombies. And one day, I was really upset and drunk out of-"

" _Mr. Miller!"_ hissed Jess, earning a giggle from some of the students.

"Right, sorry, I was upset and I er, had a lot of um, adult juice and the idea just came to me. I knew when I woke up I wouldn't remember so I just sat down and… wrote," he finished with a shrug.

"Adult juice? Really?" muttered Jess, but before Nick could react, Rhea's hand was up again.

"Rhea?" said Jess quickly.

"Mr. Miller, will you be writing a sequel?"

Nick, who had walked over to the teacher's desk and was leaning against it, crossed his arms and frowned slightly. "Um, I don't know, actually. I haven't really thought about it. If my brain can come up with something, I don't see why not."

"Please, do, Mr. Miller," said Rhea sincerely. "Ms. Day had promised us to try to convince you when she went to your reading the other day?"

"Did she now?" laughed Nick, turning to Jess who just shrugged at him. "She didn't mention it to me that day…"

Jess's mouth dropped open in annoyance as her gaze darted over to Rhea's outraged expression.

"Rhea, I wanted to, but I was running late," she explained apologetically as she turned to glare at Nick. " _But_ since Mr. Miller is here, why don't you try to convince him yourself?"

The class immediately erupted in chaos and Jess stood by smugly as she watched Nick get flustered. As he caught sight of her smirk, Nick knew just what to say to wipe that off her face.

"Alright, alright," said Nick loudly. "It's my turn to ask you guys a question!"

The class fell silent and everyone watched him with curious excitement, while Jess looked at him with a small frown. It was only when he smirked back at her that she realized what he was about to ask her and groaned internally.

"So how did you guys come across this book in the first place?"

Everyone's hands in the class punched the air at the same time, almost collectively. Nick scanned the class till his eyes landed on a girl at the back. "Uh, the young lady right here... In the strange-looking vest…" Catching the glare from Jess, he hastily added, "No offense."

"Ms. Day recommended the book to us, Mr. Miller," said the girl in the strange looking vest as she straightened her glasses.

"Oh! I see, so your Ms. Day has read the book too?" he asked knowingly looking at Jess with eyebrows raised, and she sank into herself in annoyance.

 _What's the big deal!?_

 _His smug ass face, that's what._

"Read it?" laughed the girl. "Ms. Day _loves_ the book."

There were collective nods in the class.

"In fact," she continued. "Funny story, actually, she was very sad after she finished reading it. When we asked her what was wrong, she told us about the book. And we _wanted_ to read it and here we are! And she also said that if Pepp-"

" _Ooookay,_ that's enough, Alicia," said Jess, but it was more of a giggle-shriek.

Nick frowned, not really having caught on to what had just happened. "She was sad? Why was she sad?" he asked, now looking at Jess. "It wasn't a sad ending."

Jess opened her mouth to respond, but Alicia had seemingly decided to end Jess today.

"She was sad because though Pepperwood saved the world, he was all alone in the end," said Alicia, with a slight shake of her head.

A small boy with thick glasses, cut in with a small laugh. "She was so sad about it that she said if Pepperwood was a real person, she'd marry him."

Nick felt his eyebrows rise higher than ever as he looked at Jess who was looking mildly embarassed at being caught red-handed with her lie. Why did her students hate her so much. "What, he deserves love, okay?"

He stared at her without saying anything and she rambled on nervously. "He blames himself too much about things. If he could just-"

And then she was saved by the bell.

 _Oh thank god._

The class, engrossed in their conversation groaned at that, and Jess laughed a little because that was probably the first time in her years as a teacher that students had been visibly upset at the bell.

Nick was still looking at her a little strangely and Jess gulped nervously before saying, "So um, that's that. We're through with time."

"Right," he muttered, shaking his head as he looked at the class again.

"Okay, class, what do you say?"

"Thank you, Mr. Miller!" they sang and Nick smiled back.

"Well, guys, it was nice meeting you all. I had fun!"

"We did too!" a couple of students chimed in while the others nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, keep your English books ready. I'll walk Mr. Miller out, and be back soon, okay?"

 _"Yes, Miss Day!"_

She lead him out of the class and the two of them walked in silence for a little while, Nick lost in thoughts. As for Jess, she was surprised he hadn't started to poke fun at her already.

When the reached the main entrance, Nick squinted into the sun searchingly till he spotted Schmidt's car and raised his hand. Schmidt honked in response and started to drive towards him, while Nick turned to Jess.

"So…"

"So…" she repeated, feeling a little stupid, shuffling on her feet.

"Um, I think that went well."

"Definitely," she nodded seriously.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you if-" began Nick, but was interrupted by the rude noise of car honk.

Schmidt was at the entrance, windows rolled down and staring expectantly at Nick.

"Never mind, my ride's here," he said starting to go down the small flight of stairs leading down to the road.

Jess's eyes flickered briefly to the car and she frowned a little. The guy in the driver's seat looked a little familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"So I guess this is it," said Nick as he started to turn around.

"Yup," she said the 'P' popping as she watched him get to the car.

"Ms Day," he said, with a small salute.

"Mr Miller," she laughed, mimicking him.

She waited till the car left the school premises before turning around and walking back to her class. There was a mild restlessness to her that she couldn't quite understand and dismissed it as… ignored it. She ignored it.

* * *

 **A/N: So much dialogue, oops. Was that weird? Too corny? I'm sorry the Coolidge School thing stretched out so much, lol. But that's it of Coolidge. _For now ;) ;)_**


End file.
